1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for typing in a non-English language, and particularly to a method for typing Arabic letters and associated diacritics.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current standard keyboards, often referred to as the “QWERTY” keyboard or ASCII keyboard, are specifically designed for users typing in the English language (Latin alphabet). In order for a standard English language keyboard to be used for typing letters in other languages, it can be modified, by providing software computer means that supports this language. To assist the user, most of the letters of the other language can be printed on the keyboard beside the English letters. This enables the user to type in English mode or in the other language mode, as desired. Such keyboards, however, are typically limited to assigning a letter from a first alphabet and a letter from a second alphabet to each alphabet and/or punctuation key of the keyboard.
Unlike the English language, however, the Arabic language includes the usage of diacritics to represent vowel sounds. The Arabic fathah, for example, is a small diagonal line placed above a letter, and represents a short/a/. The kasrah is a similar diagonal line below a letter and designates a long/e/(as in “team”). The dammah is a small curl-like diacritic placed above a letter to represent a double/oo/(as in “room”). Since the vowels in English are unique letters, there is no correspondence between the English alphabet and the diacritics used in Arabic. Although Arabic and English bilingual keyboards are known, such keyboards typically do not provide any ability to use diacritics, or require complex manipulations.
Thus, a method for typing Arabic letters and associated diacritics addressing the aforementioned problems is desired.